Month: July 2015

Pixelmator for iOS updated with 5x faster Repair tool, new Dynamic Touch feature and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2015

Pixelmator for iOS, which almost two months ago became a universal app with native iPhone support, was refreshed in the App Store this morning with a few new features and dozens of improvements, performance improvements and stability fixes.

The Repair tool, which debuted on Pixelmator for Mac, is now up to five times faster on iPhone and iPad, and even more precise.

And the all-new Dynamic Touch tool intelligently changes the stroke size of all Retouch tools based on your finger input: use the tip of your finger and you'll create thin strokes; press harder, or use a larger surface area of your finger, and you'll produce thicker lines.

Moreover, Pixelmator's Photo Editing extension has been improved to make it easier to apply Pixelmator's effects within the context of iOS's stock Photos app.

Apple’s long rumored cable-killer TV service is “ready and it rocks”

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2015

Could Apple be on the verge of unveiling a killer app aimed squarely at cord cutters? After all, the company has long been rumored to have been developing a television streaming service that would trump and undercut the cable with more affordable subscription prices, convenience and ease of use.

According to a new report, there seems to be light at the end of a long tunnel.

“The platform is ready and it rocks,” one source told New York Post yesterday. Talks with major U.S. networks like CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox are reportedly gaining momentum rapidly in terms of securing rights to offer local TV programming.

Previously, Apple went about this licensing business on its own, a strategy which thus far has yielded poor results. But now CEO Tim Cook and his team have apparently asked the networks to obtain those rights on behalf of Apple, and it seems major progress has been made since.

Let’s Talk iOS 090: iPods and iPads

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Episode 90: Jim Gresham joins the show to talk Apple Music, and the future of the iPod and iPad.

Subscribe on iTunes

Support Let's Talk iOS: VideoBlocks — an affordable, subscription-based stock media site that gives you unlimited access to premium stock footage. Go to videoblocks.com/promo/ios and sign up for your own subscription today!

TiVo updates iOS app with AirPlay streaming of recorded content to Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

TiVo on Tuesday refreshed its iOS app in the App Store with the ability to stream content to the Apple TV via AirPlay. The development marks a major U-degree turn for TiVo, which for a long time has deliberately blocked AirPlay to prevent users from streaming video content to Apple's $69 box.

With support for the AirPlay mirroring feature now official, users of TiVo's iOS app can use AirPlay to stream content recorded on a TiVo box using the iPhone and iPad application to a user's Apple TV.

The refreshed app with the new AirPlay functionality is rolling out later today.

35 new free, paid, and beta jailbreak tweaks showcased on video

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

As Sebastien alluded to in yesterday's jailbreak tweaks of the week post, last week saw a colossal amount of new jailbreak tweaks released. There's probably a good chance that, simply due to the amount of new tweaks released, you missed some.

In this post, I'll showcase 35 new tweaks on video. You'll find a mix of free, paid, and even some beta/unreleased tweaks. How many of these tweaks do you have installed on your iPhone? Have a look and see for yourself.

How to jailbreak iOS 8.4 on Mac with PP jailbreak [Video]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

The PP untethered jailbreak for iOS 8.4 is out, and it has been confirmed to work. As we continue to wait on a possible TaiG jailbreak for Mac, the 25PP team is making it so that Mac users can jailbreak now.

Of course, you can always use the virtual machine method for jailbreaking iOS 8.4 using TaiG on Mac, but the PP jailbreak tool is as simple as simple gets for Mac users. Inside, we'll show you how to jailbreak your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 8.4 on Mac using PP jailbreak.

25PP releases a Mac version of the iOS 8.4 jailbreak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 4, 2018

Finally, Mac users can join in on the fun. 25PP has released a Mac version of the iOS 8.4 jailbreak, allowing Mac users to jailbreak natively on their machines for the very first time.

I have personally confirmed that this tool works, so you should feel confident about using this to jailbreak your device if you're a Mac user who has been waiting.

How to restore DRM-laden Apple Music matched songs to DRM-free

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2015

Apple today released iTunes 12.2.1 which solves a few issue, among them an annoying bug that's been driving more than a few early adopters of Apple Music crazy.

For context, Apple's standalone $25 per year iTunes Match subscription is commonly used to legitimately replace matched songs in your library with DRM-free files from iTunes in the high-quality 256Kbps AAC format. Unfortunately, iTunes Match as part of Apple Music membership contains a flaw.

Even though Apple Music checks songs in your own library against its vast catalog, matched tracks get incorrectly labeled as Apple Music and wrapped inside FairPlay, Apple's proprietary DRM system. As a result, you're prevented from enjoying your own Matched music on non-Apple devices.

More importantly, Apple Music members who cancel their subscription may end up with DRM-protected matched tracks. Making matter worse, deleting a track in your Mac's original library for the purpose of re-downloading it as a 256Kbps AAC file will prompt Apple Music to incorrectly replace the original, non-DRM version with a DRM-laden file.

This was never intended behavior: a flaw causes iTunes to incorrectly label songs from Matched to Apple Music. But worry not, iTunes 12.2.1 comes to the rescue: release notes state that the update resolves an issue “where iTunes incorrectly changed some songs from Matched to Apple Music”.

Here're the steps you must take if your matched songs show up as DRM-protected Apple Music tracks.

Apple Music won’t auto-add streamed tracks to your Recently Played playlist

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2015

It's no secret Apple Music has some way to go before achieving feature parity between iOS and OS X.

Some crucial aspects of Apple Music on iOS have yet to make their way into iTunes for Mac and Windows PCs, and now Apple's $9.99 per month service was discovered to have been avoiding adding streamed songs to a Recently Played playlist.

As Kirk McElhearn noted, it's a huge, unexpected oversight on Apple's part because you should in fact be permitted to access a full history of what you have listened to, regardless of whether it's locally stored music or Apple Music files streamed to your computer or mobile device.

Apple now creating music videos and other original content in-house for Apple Music and iTunes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

An Apple job listing seeking a seasoned Los Angeles, California-based Original Content Video Producer was discovered Monday, our best indication yet that the company is now creating original video content for both Apple Music and iTunes.

A proven track record in producing branded video content and content series for social platforms is required and the ideal candidate will work from Apple-owned Culver City campus, which belonged to Beats before the company was acquired last year by Apple for $3 billion.

Pitchfork recently said that Apple has actually been making music videos for select artists in-house.

Apple pushes iTunes 12.2.1 update fixing iTunes Match and Beats 1 issues

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2015

Apple on Monday issued a bug-fix update to iTunes for Mac and Windows. iTunes 12.2.1, available through the Software Update mechanism or standalone via iTunes.com/download, fixes a pair of issues with iTunes Match, Apple's $25 per year song identification service. In addition, it contains minor bug fixes and improvements for Beats 1, Apple's free of charge 24/7 global Internet radio broadcasting in more than a hundred countries.

5 new features coming to Photos 1.1 for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 2, 2017

When OS X El Capitan releases for public consumption in the fall, it will deliver, among other features, an update to the built-in Photos for Mac application.

As a matter of fact, El Capitan marks the first major feature-packed update to Apple's photo-management solution since Photos for Mac debuted as part of April's OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 software update.

As mentioned in the official El Capitan release notes distilled into human-readable form by Jason Snell of Six Colors, Photos 1.1 brings out about half a dozen new features that didn't make it into the initial release, on top of a bunch of bug fixes, security improvements and optimized performance.